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3 Feb 2017

Frillies You Find Inspirational

Although I’ve already done something similar in the past,
this time instead of going into great lengths and detail I would like to do a
shoutout to a few more Lolitas whom I find inspiring.

First, because of that previous
post, I have to mention Sanakanin.
Her way of putting items together and layering them to create the Lolita
silhouette and look, rather than rely on ready made things, is insanely
inspiring and eye-opening. It takes a great understanding of the fashion and of
clothes to be able to create so many varied, indisputably Lolita outfits with
so many 100% offbrand pieces. And it is that master level creativity that I
find inspiring. Anyone can just put together pieces intended for Lolita fashion
– but to put together pieces which are totally unrelated and still create a
Lolita outfit is a skill that I can only aspire to develop.

The other frillies are actually a
lot closer to home. The Mighty Mushroom
is from my very own local comm and it’s incredible to have someone this
inspiring be this real. Very often her style and choices are close to my own,
but I find that her outfits, whether simpler or OTT, are always very polished
and this is what inspires me. Every time there’s a meetup, I think about what
she is wearing and how she’s wearing it, picking up little tips on how to
improve on my own coords. Most of the time the answer seems to be in getting
the accessories down to the T – it’s true that the smallest things make the
biggest difference.

Although further away, by virtue of
the UK being a relatively small island, kaixin_k
is also a local Lolita for me. She started the Tea Party Club, which is the UK
association of Lolitas, and grew it from a small meet up to an annual
anniversary extravaganza which will reach its 10th anniversary event
this year! It’s both her style – very elegant, intricate and, again, polished
and detail-oriented – and her passion and enthusiasm for the fashion and the
local community that’s so inspiring. It’s obvious that Tea Party Club means a
lot to her and we can only hope that it will continue to mean a lot. Even
though I’ve only been to one TPC event, I just feel it in me that they’re the
best!

Finally, on a similar note, I feel
that this list wouldn’t be complete without Shin Haenuli, the owner and designer of Haenuli. Before meeting her
I only appreciated the clothes she designs. Now, having met her at Wicked and
Whimsy and following her on various social media, I understand just how much
passion she has for her art – and it is art! Not only this, Nunu is very much
the designer of the people. She wears Lolita herself and understands the
fashion from the point of view of a regular wearer, as well as that of a
designer. She is very vocal about how much the support means to her, which
rings true with emotion, something which you don’t always see or hear with
other designers (maybe they’re too Japanese and formal to express their
gratitude so emotionally?). But more importantly Nunu designs things which are
unique (Just One Bite is still making
me consider trying out Gothic) and made with us, the Lolitas, in mind. If you doubt
that, then just look at her last series, The
Story You Don’t Know – if it wasn’t for fans being so vocal about how much
they loved Haenuli’s artwork, she probably wouldn’t have put that in an
artbook, let alone on a dress.

There were one or two other people I
considered adding to this list, however, in the end I decided against that. I
do very often find myself feeling inspired by a single outfit or a couple of
single outfits – but the four Lolitas here create things which inspire me
consistently, without fail. Their style, their expression of the fashion and
the other things that they do to engage with the fashion are things that I look
up to and learn from in order to become a better Lolita myself.

How about you? Who do you find
inspiring, if there is anyone? I feel that it’s always good to share those
inspirations, as there may be people out there you could learn a lot from, but
whom otherwise you wouldn’t have come across.

As I’m away this weekend, I won’t be
able to update the links until I return on Sunday, so remember to check back on
this post to see who other bloggers find are inspiring them!

4
comments:

Agree on sanakanin, it is really cool to se what she can get out of a old lacy skirt and I love the Wa coordinates she made.I think another person who great with style is Amytasukada, if anybody can nail a wardrobe with a monochrome nature, she taking it to another level, by breaking it with some blue or red.

See, I'm not that big on Gothic Lolita, so it really takes a lot to inspire me in that style. Amy's style is very polished and you can see the years of experience she has, but because I prefer Sweet or Classic Lolita I've only seen one or two Gothic coordinates that I was really wowed and inspired by. :)

(⺣◡⺣)♡* I am so happy you like my coordinates that much. I don't know if it's a skill exactly, but getting some foundation items like underskirts and neutral color blouses really helped refine my coords.

To be honest, when I got some regular lolita OPs I was totally confused as to how to coordinate them, and ended up selling some because I've just gotten so used to layering offbrand. I do love skirts though <3 I think they get the most mileage in my wardrobe.

Knowing how to layer effectively definitely is a skill. You can learn it, sure, but it still doesn't just come naturally to everyone. Though I agree, having lots of pieces that are easy to layer, like skirts and blouses, in neutral colours probably is the key. Luckily, neutral colours are easy to find offbrand.And I know the struggle with coording OP's, I have problems with them too. For me JSKs are the easiest to work with, but I think I'm getting the hang of skirts too.

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About me

Cupcake Kamisama – 26-year-old Capricorn, Polish-born, UK-based and in love with Japanese fashion (predominantly Lolita). When I don’t blog, I work in the education sector, write articles for Wunderwelt Libre and translate video game content on the side.